Daria Bulanova, Analyst, Global Markets (Finam) On Wednesday, April 4, Asian equity benchmarks traded mixed with prevailing downside. The stock markets in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong were closed for the Qingming Festival. Players were underwhelmed by the macro data released in Australia. In February, the country posted a trade deficit of AUD 480 mn, while analysts, on average, had forecast a trade surplus of about AUD 1,000 mn. The national currency dropped the most against the dollar since mid-January 2012 on the news. US Fed minutes, published yesterday, which gave no hint of QE3 going ahead, acted as another negative factor behind a pullback in a number of Asian exporters. Heading into the final bell, the regional stock indicator MSCI Asia Pacific sank 1.5%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average tumbled 2.29%, South Korea’s Kospi eased 1.5% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index finished the session 0.07% lower. Japan exporters led the decliners. Notably, Japan’s biggest domestic electronics exporter Sony shed 2.9% of its value, Toshiba gave up 3.3%, Sharp plummeted 3.7% and Panasonic was off 3.6%. Declining commodity prices took a toll on the shares of mining companies. Newcrest Mining and BHP Billiton slid 2.4% and 1.3%, accordingly, whereas Sumitomo Metal Mining and Pacific Metals lost 2.8% and 3.1% in Tokyo trading, respectively. South Korea’s high-profile cellular operator SK Telecom closed 3.2 lower in Seoul, hitting 3-month low, after steel company Posco sold a block of its shares at a discount. In the meantime, the shares of Posco itself lost 1.5% of their value. Japan’s retail company Fast Retailing saw 5.7% knocked off its market cap after reporting March sales by its-owned retail chain Uniqlo, which left analysts disappointed. IndexCountryValueChangeChange, %YTD, % S&P/ASX 200 Australia 4333,86 -3,17 -0,07% 6,84% All Ordinaries Australia 4418,95 -5,46 -0,12% 7,49% Ho Chi Minh Vietnam 439,77 -6 -1,35% 25,09% Hang Seng Hong Kong 20790,98 0 0,00% 12,78% Hang Seng H-shares Hong Kong 14123,07 0 0,00% 42,13% BSE 30 (Sensex) India 17486,02 -111,4 -0,63% 13,14% Jakarta Composite Indonesia 4134,04 -81,41 -1,93% 8,16% Shanghai A-shares China 2370,07 0 0,00% 2,86% CSI 300 China 2454,9 0 0,00% 4,65% KLSE Composite Malaysia 1599,27 -7,36 -0,46% 4,48% NZSE 50 New Zealand 3480,42 7,33 0,21% 6,28% Karachi 100 Pakistan 13940,2 249,12 1,82% 23,21% Straits Times Singapore 2985,04 -29,94 -0,99% 12,80% Bangkok SET Thailand 1198,09 -12,98 -1,07% 66,77% TAIEX Taiwan 7760,85 0 0,00% 9,74% PSEi Philippines 5038,92 -17,56 -0,35% 15,26% Colombo All-Shares Sri Lanka 5400,91 -15,74 -0,29% -11,09% KOSPI South Korea 2018,61 -30,67 -1,50% 10,56% Nikkei 225 Japan 9819,99 -230,4 -2,29% 16,14% Topix Japan 835,36 -15,66 -1,84% 14,65%